King, W., Emanuel, R., Brown, X., Dingle, N., Lucas, V., Perkins, A., Turner, A., Whittington, D., Witherspoon, Q. (2018). Who has the “Right” to Use the N-Word? A Survey of Attitudes about the Acceptability of Using the N-Word and its Derivatives. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 6(2), 47-58.

Wyman King; Richard Emanuel; Xavier Brown; Niroby Dingle; Vertis Lucas; Anissa Perkins; Ayzia Turner; Destinee Whittington; Qwa'dryna Witherspoon. "Who has the “Right” to Use the N-Word? A Survey of Attitudes about the Acceptability of Using the N-Word and its Derivatives". International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 6, 2, 2018, 47-58.

King, W., Emanuel, R., Brown, X., Dingle, N., Lucas, V., Perkins, A., Turner, A., Whittington, D., Witherspoon, Q. (2018). 'Who has the “Right” to Use the N-Word? A Survey of Attitudes about the Acceptability of Using the N-Word and its Derivatives', International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 6(2), pp. 47-58.

King, W., Emanuel, R., Brown, X., Dingle, N., Lucas, V., Perkins, A., Turner, A., Whittington, D., Witherspoon, Q. Who has the “Right” to Use the N-Word? A Survey of Attitudes about the Acceptability of Using the N-Word and its Derivatives. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 2018; 6(2): 47-58.

Who has the “Right” to Use the N-Word? A Survey of Attitudes about the Acceptability of Using the N-Word and its Derivatives

The N-word is the ultimate insult that has tormented generations of African-Americans. Yet over time, N-word derivatives have become popular terms of endearment by the descendants of the very people who once had to endure the N-word. Therein lies the root of an ongoing argument in society today: Who has the ‘right’ to use the N-word and N-word derivatives? A quota sample (N=347) of undergraduate students at a historically Black college/university in the deep-South participated in this survey study. Participants were mostly Black (88%) and female (62%). Using a five-point semantic differential scale from ‘always’ to ‘never’, participants were asked the degree to which they believe it is acceptable to use the N-word and N-word derivatives. A majority (76%) of respondents agreed that it is never acceptable for non-Blacks to use the N-word with anyone in any situation. Fifty-six percent of respondents agreed that it is never acceptable for anyone to use N-word derivatives with anyone in any situation.